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War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America's Campaign to Create a Master Race-Expanded Edition Kindle Edition

4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 619 ratings

War Against the Weak is the gripping chronicle documenting how American corporate philanthropies launched a national campaign of ethnic cleansing in the United States, helped found and fund the Nazi eugenics of Hitler and Mengele — and then created the modern movement of "human genetics." Some 60,000 Americans were sterilized under laws in 27 states. This expanded edition includes two new essays on state genocide.

Editorial Reviews

Review

THE BEST BOOK ON EUGENICS. Edwin Black has written what may well be the best book ever published about the American eugenics movement and the horrific events it spawned. Combining exhaustive research, a very readable style, and just the right touch of moral outrage, Black splendidly conveys the evil depth and breadth of eugenics philosophy, the pseudo-science and social theory that unleashed a half-century of war against society's most vulnerable citizens.

About the Author

Edwin Black is the award-winning, New York Times and international investigative author of 80 bestselling editions in 14 languages in 61 countries, as well as scores of newspaper and magazine articles in the leading publications of the United States, Europe and Israel. With a million books in print, his work focuses on genocide and hate, corporate criminality and corruption, governmental misconduct, academic fraud, philanthropy abuse, oil addiction, alternative energy and historical investigation. Editors have submitted Black's work nine times for Pulitzer Prize nomination, and in recent years he has been the recipient of a series of top editorial awards. He has also contributed to a number of anthologies worldwide. For his work, Black has been interviewed on hundreds of network broadcasts from Oprah, the Today Show, CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports and NBC Dateline in the US to the leading networks of Europe and Latin American. His works have been the subject of numerous documentaries, here and abroad. All of his books have been optioned by Hollywood for film, with three in active production. His latest film is the screen adaptation War Against the Weak, based on his book of the same name. Black's speaking tours include hundreds of events in dozens of cities each year, appearing at prestigious venues from the Library of Congress in Washington to the Simon Wiesenthal Institute in Los Angeles in America, and in Europe from London's British War Museum and Amsterdam's Institute for War Documentation to Munich's Carl Orff Hall. He is the editor of The Cutting Edge News, which receives more than 1.5 million visits monthly. Black's ten award-winning bestselling books are IBM and the Holocaust (2001), British Petroleum and the Redline Agreement (2011), The Farhud (2010), Nazi Nexus (2009), The Plan (2008), Internal Combustion (2006), Banking on Baghdad (2004), War Against the Weak (2003), The Transfer Agreement (1984), and a 1999 novel, Format C:. His enterprise and investigative writings have appeared in scores of newspapers from the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune to the Sunday Times of London, Frankfurter Zeitung and the Jerusalem Post, as well as scores of magazines as diverse as Playboy, Sports Illustrated, Reform Judaism, Der Spiegel, L'Express, BusinessWeek and American Bar Association Journal. Black's articles are syndicated worldwide by Los Angeles Times Syndicate International, Los Angeles Times-Washington Post Syndicate, JTA and Feature Group News Service.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00AGIIMWO
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dialog Press (November 30, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 30, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 7738 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 924 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 619 ratings

About the author

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Edwin Black
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Edwin Black is the award-winning, New York Times and international investigative author of 200 bestselling editions in 20 languages in more than 190 countries, as well as scores of newspaper and magazine articles in the leading publications of the United States, Europe and Israel. With more than 1.6 million books in print, his work focuses on human rights, genocide and hate, corporate criminality and corruption, governmental misconduct, academic fraud, philanthropy abuse, oil addiction, alternative energy and historical investigation. He can be found at www.edwinblack.com. His weekly Zoom TV Show can be found at www.theedwinblackshow.com.

Editors have submitted Black's work 16 times for Pulitzer Prize nomination, and in recent years he has been the recipient of a series of top editorial awards. He has also contributed to a number of anthologies worldwide. For his work, Black has been interviewed on hundreds of network broadcasts from Oprah, the Today Show, CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports and NBC Dateline in the US to the leading networks of Europe and Latin American. His works have been the subject of numerous documentaries, here and abroad. Several of his books have been optioned by Hollywood for film, with two in active production. Black's speaking tours include hundreds of events in dozens of cities each year, appearing at prestigious venues from the Library of Congress in Washington to the Simon Wiesenthal Institute in Los Angeles in America, and in Europe from London's British War Museum and Amsterdam's Institute for War Documentation to Munich's Carl Orff Hall.

Black's eleven award-winning bestselling books are IBM and the Holocaust (2001 & 2012), Financing the Flames (2013), British Petroleum and the Redline Agreement (2011), The Farhud (2010), Nazi Nexus (2009), The Plan (2008), Internal Combustion (2006), Banking on Baghdad (2004), War Against the Weak (2003 and 2012), The Transfer Agreement (1984 and 2009), and a 1999 novel, Format C:. His enterprise and investigative writings have appeared in scores of newspapers from the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune to the Sunday Times of London, Frankfurter Zeitung and the Jerusalem Post, as well as scores of magazines as diverse as Sports Illustrated, Reform Judaism, Der Spiegel, L'Express, BusinessWeek and American Bar Association Journal. Black's articles are syndicated worldwide.

See him at TheEdwinBlackShow.com and at The Edwin Black Show on his YouTubeChannel.

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4.8 out of 5 stars
619 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book informative and well-written. They appreciate the historical context and insights it provides. Readers describe the writing as riveting and masterful. Many find the content eye-opening and revealing the truth. However, opinions differ on the level of scariness, with some finding it disturbing while others consider it informative.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

62 customers mention "Readability"62 positive0 negative

Customers find the book engaging and informative. They describe it as an essential read that is well-documented and relevant today. Readers praise the author's research and say it's a valuable resource.

"...This comprehensive, scholarly but imminently readable and accessible volume is devastating in its impact but utterly impossible to put down...." Read more

"...personalities, drama, politics, hope, failure, lies - it would make a great movie...." Read more

"An amazing eye opening book Thanks so much for the details and the information that changes lives..." Read more

"...the people that supported it including governmental and highly esteemed universities! I will never look at life on this planet the same again." Read more

25 customers mention "History"25 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's history. They find it provides insights into the history of eugenics from its beginnings in England. The book explains the truth beyond what we know today and provides information that changes lives. Readers describe it as a decent introduction to the subject and an excellent expose on ZPG and Eugenics.

"...First, let me dispense with what this book is NOT: It is not a volume of "conspiracy theory," nor is it some sort of partisan political tome...." Read more

"...Anyway, the book is well written with lots of facts, personalities, drama, politics, hope, failure, lies - it would make a great movie...." Read more

"...Thanks so much for the details and the information that changes lives..." Read more

"...This is who we are? The best kept secret of our country's existence. Read this and learn who the U. S. really is ... we haven't changed...." Read more

12 customers mention "Writing quality"10 positive2 negative

Customers find the book well-written and engaging. They describe it as a comprehensive, accessible volume that is hard to put down. The writing is described as thorough and masterfully presented.

"...This comprehensive, scholarly but imminently readable and accessible volume is devastating in its impact but utterly impossible to put down...." Read more

"...Anyway, the book is well written with lots of facts, personalities, drama, politics, hope, failure, lies - it would make a great movie...." Read more

"Well written and backed by the authors own research. Only a few people have knowledge of this era in our nation's history...." Read more

"This book is a riveting and excruciating read...." Read more

7 customers mention "Eye opening"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book informative and eye-opening. They say it's an eye-opener from page one to the ending chapter.

"What an eye opener from page one to the ending chapter! I've always known that society was screwed up but I had no idea it was to this magnitude...." Read more

"...In my opinion, every American should read this book. It's an eye opener, enlightening, educational and very scary...." Read more

"This book is a masterpiece! Your eyes will be opened, especially if you know Bible prophecy...." Read more

"...An eye opener. Frightening, considering our present political atmosphere." Read more

14 customers mention "Scariness level"7 positive7 negative

Customers have different views on the book's scariness level. Some find it informative and unnerving, while others describe it as disturbing, difficult to read, and emotionally challenging.

"I have enjoyed reading this book. I found it fascinating and disturbing that the US contributed so much to the eugenics movement...." Read more

"...It's incredibly difficult emotionally to read, and I find myself taking breaks to digest the content that I've just read...." Read more

"This book is a riveting and excruciating read. It's the true-life horror story of a philosophy which formed and shaped the politics of the 20th..." Read more

"This will be a very frightening, but factual exposure of planned mass murder that is on going right now!" Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2011
    This monumental work by nine-time Pulitzer nominee Edwin Black should be required reading in every high school and college in America.

    First, let me dispense with what this book is NOT: It is not a volume of "conspiracy theory," nor is it some sort of partisan political tome. Black relies almost exclusively on primary sources to meticulously document the ignoble history behind the actions of our government officials, scientists, sociologists and progressive corporate philanthropists who comprised the American eugenics movement. He takes the reader step-by-step along the harrowing recounting of this, one of the darkest periods in our nation's history, including the very darkest heart at the core of this movement: eugenicide, the call for mass murder of the unfit and unwelcome in lethal gas chambers (long before the Nazis ever got hold of the idea) and actual practice of infanticide of the impaired and disfigured by doctors and hospital staff. All while our leaders looked on and applauded.

    Most important, Black does here what no one else had done before (at least to my knowledge): He traces the roots of the German Nazi racial rampage and genocide against the Jews and others deemed unfit to the American eugenics movement. It turns out, we gave Hitler the blueprints; the Americans taught the Germans under the Weimar banner and later under the Nazi flag, everything they needed to know to get started on their own eugenics campaign.

    This comprehensive, scholarly but imminently readable and accessible volume is devastating in its impact but utterly impossible to put down. I can honestly say, I was a different man when I turned the last page than I was when I turned the first. There are few books about which I can make that claim.
    47 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2018
    The Progressive party, WWII, Nazis, Abortion, Sterilization, fake science, one world gene searches - and how they are all related. This is actually some freaky stuff, but true. While the science leaders who think they are genetically superior to the degenerates, another amazing person with perfect genes said "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven....blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." To me, this is an amazing contrast between world views. I don't think eugenics has gone away, it is strong as can be in most of the world. And recently the Chinese broke with the pack and started experimenting with writing human DNA changes, to no avail so far. Anyway, the book is well written with lots of facts, personalities, drama, politics, hope, failure, lies - it would make a great movie. Unfortunately, so many people suffered both in the US and abroad, especially abroad.
    67 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2020
    An amazing eye opening book
    Thanks so much for the details and the information that changes lives

    This book tells the tales of what we are now seeing in our societies.

    Long term plans to change the fabric of our society are ongoing and tenacious.

    Wealthy people influential people dishonest people---- have goals and they foist their goals on us as if they know more than we know.
    As if---they have the right and privilege to decide our fates.

    As if---they are a God of some sort that knows us better than we know ourselves.

    Pay attention to what is ongoing.
    Help educate others.
    Stand up for truth and goodness.
    25 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2021
    What an eye opener from page one to the ending chapter! I've always known that society was screwed up but I had no idea it was to this magnitude. I can no longer look at the world as I once did. Actually it's really sad that the privileged are still doing the same thing and repackaging it under various names. I was blown away with the people that supported it including governmental and highly esteemed universities! I will never look at life on this planet the same again.
    19 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2024
    If your curiosity aims your mind toward the red, you will need time to digest the overwhelming narrative . If you are of the mental fortitude that your brief or extensive grasp on our past history has been told in full, you will need a safe place to hide your mind , as you make excuses not to valadate the obvious conclusion of this book. It goes to the soft underbelly of our nation , and rips it apart , to show collective heinous crimes unthinkable in so-called modern societies.. We have been willingly deceived in our superior mindset , the horrors of mankind are in this book..
    4 people found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

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  • ayax
    5.0 out of 5 stars Del eugenismo al racismo
    Reviewed in Mexico on September 29, 2022
    Es un libro de lectura obligada para quien quiera entender los verdaderos orígenes del racismo nazi que infortunadamente prevalecen hasta el día de hoy y es de particular importancia como los que apoyaron el movimiento eugenista tachaban de "anticiencia" a quienes denunciaban su racismo
  • Lucca Canizela De Camargo
    5.0 out of 5 stars Superb
    Reviewed in Brazil on May 22, 2022
    Very informative book!
  • Fashion Shopper
    5.0 out of 5 stars Should be Required Reading in all High Schools
    Reviewed in Canada on January 24, 2022
    In War Against the Weak - Eugenics and America's Campaign to Create a Master Race, Edwin Black tackles a very difficult and painful subject. To my knowledge, there are very few books that deal with this subject in such depth. The author and his team of researchers show how widespread the ideas of eugenics had become in the early years of the twentieth century. Although the heart of the movement was in America, the ideas were originally derived from those of England's Francis Galton. In America they were expanded into a comprehensive philosophy, based on utterly false premises, but there were serious adherents also in countries, including, but not limited to, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, France. Italy, Hungary and Japan.

    While the movement did indeed target specific racial groups, it in no way restricted itself to race as a reason for targeting individuals who eugenicists believed were "undesirables." Anyone who possessed characteristics distasteful to, or who was perceived as any kind of threat to this select group, was fair game. There are many lessons to be learned from this book and it should be read not only to gain a better understanding of a very dark chapter in the history of so called "civilized" society, but it should also be read as a cautionary tale.

    The eugenics movement was not peopled by obscure, fringe extremists, but rather its adherents were from world class academic institutions, such as Harvard and Princeton Universities, the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes and others of equal status. Its members were highly credentialed academics, including doctors, lawyers, judges, politicians, church pastors, school principals, teachers, social workers and government bureaucrats. These educated individuals gave credibility to what was in truth an odious philosophy and a pseudoscience.

    Individuals were deemed "undesirable" by such vague categorizations as "feeble minded", "socially inadequate" or "morally deficient." Physical infirmities such as "hereditary blindness", "epilepsy", "deafness" and other such afflictions, in the eyes of eugenicists, also disqualified persons possessing them from reproducing and indeed living. Many other ill defined terms were also used in an attempt to do away with individuals that those in power sought to eradicate, in their attempt to create a master race. It is obvious that this truly was a war against the weak. Those in positions of power decided the terms and used them against those who were in no position to challenge them.

    The book describes in detail how records were kept on the inhabitants of farming communities, villages, towns, etc., with the cooperation of teachers, school principals, church ministers, physicians, and others. Those possessing "undesirable" traits were in many cases, hunted down, rounded up, forcibly sterilized and/or institutionalized. This happened to many poor white Appalachian families, facilitated by sheriffs and others in law enforcement. Their only "crime" was being poor. They were considered "backward" because they lacked the formal education and the language skills of their more urban counterparts. Despite having strong family values, survival and coping skills which enabled them to successfully deal with their own environment, plus a vibrant culture of their own, they were deemed "inferior", by those more "advanced" citizens.

    Much of the information on which the eugenicists based their world views was sketchy, vague and much of it was derived from biased observations, conjecture and gossip. On such spurious grounds, entire families were condemned. Extended families were targeted for extinction in many cases because one member exhibited an "abnormality", as defined by this group of "experts." Even if all other members of a family were normal in every way, rabid eugenicists insisted that their defective "germ plasm" needed to be obliterated in order to prevent future generations of their "line" from coming into existence, only to propagate the "defect."

    The Constitution of the United States and the concept of equal protection under the law notwithstanding, many states enacted multiple laws targeting those citizens possessing "undesirable" or "defective" traits. Marriage prohibitions, invalidation of existing marriages, forced sterilizations, forced institutionalization, all without due process, were common features of state laws in the early decades of the twentieth century. In most cases, these laws went unchallenged.

    All of this was done with funding from the Rockefeller and Carnegie Foundations, plus the Harriman railroad fortune, as administered by the railroad magnate's widow, Mrs. E.H. Harriman. Collaboration with other countries is documented in the book and it was only when the atrocities of the Nazi concentration camps was revealed to the world that the academics and "experts" began to distance themselves from this vile pseudoscience.

    While Edwin Black and his team of researchers have done an outstanding job of compiling information on this very dark subject, this writer is indeed puzzled why he seems to give Margaret Sanger a pass on her involvement with eugenics. By his own admission, she closely aligned herself with some of the most rabid, racist eugenicists, but he still declares that she was not a racist (page 135).

    On page 251, he quotes Sanger: "Nor do we believe," wrote Sanger in Pivot of Civilization, "that the community could or should send to the lethal chamber the defective progeny resulting from irresponsible and unintelligent breeding." However, on page 132-133, he states: "Sanger was willing to employ striking language to argue against the inherent misery and defect of large families. In her book, Woman and the New Race, she bluntly declared, "Many, perhaps, will think it idle to go farther in demonstrating the immorality of large families, but since there is still an abundance of proof at hand, it may be offered for the sake of those who find difficulty in adjusting old-fashioned ideas to the facts. The most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it." To the writer of this book review, those are the words of an evil psychopath, not a lover of humanity.

    It is even more bizarre, as Margaret Sanger, who wanted to prevent the birth of "undesirables" in order to improve the quality of the human race, also advocated this abominable practice for successful, "desirable" families, who were fully capable of rearing, educating and financially supporting a large number of children. She seems to have been advocating birth control for all, but to what end? Why would she have wanted even those members of society defined as successful and well off to kill their offspring? (Page 301) Edwin Black does not say, but instead gives her and Planned Parenthood a free pass. On page 426, he states "Planned Parenthood went on to promote intelligent birth control and family planning for people everywhere, regardless of race or ethnic background." He seems to ignore the fact that Planned Parenthood is the major promoter and sponsor of abortion in the U.S. and a disproportionate number of Planned Parenthood clinics are located in black and brown neighborhoods.

    Also, in the latter chapters of the book, where the author talks about the change from "eugenics" to "genetics" he acknowledges that genetic information in now being amassed on citizens of every nation and the powerful technologies that now exist can be used to leverage this information against individuals in myriad ways. They can be denied health insurance, life insurance, employment, etc. on the basis of genetic profiles. No jurisdiction is capable of producing legislation against the abuse of this data, but yet on page 428, he states: "No one should fear the benefits of human re-engineering that can obliterate terrible diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and Tay-Sachs. The list is long and genetic researchers are constantly laboring toward the next breakthrough. Every such medical advance is a long overdue miracle. Society should welcome corrective genetic therapies and improvements that will enhance life and better mankind." Although he acknowledges "Yet humanity should also be wary of a world where people are once again defined and divided by their genetic identities. It that happens, science-based discrimination and the desire for a master race may resurrect....If there is a new war against the weak it will not be about color, but about money." Exactly!

    While he extols the "miracles," he does not address the fundamental questions. Who will be given the advantages of the "miracles" and who will be denied them? Who will decide and on what criteria will their decisions be based? Will they be provided to a select group and denied to others as a means of coercion, punishment and/or as a means of purposely dividing, in order to incite conflict? He addresses none of these questions.

    There are many lessons to be drawn for the present day, from the information contained in this volume.

    1. The tremendous power wielded by foundations established by those with immense wealth - i.e. the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others like it, and their tremendous influence on politicians and public policy should be of concern to us all.

    2. The ability of those in power to arbitrarily identify others, with less power than themselves, in the most derogatory of terms, with no evidence, no due process or anything resembling it, should also be a concern in a free and democratic society. We are in danger of losing too many of the freedoms that our forefathers fought for, to those seeking unchecked power. It seems that we are once again going down the path of those in power identifying those that they see as threats and then "cancelling" them by whatever means they see as necessary to hang on to power.

    3. The use of technology, which is now a thousandfold or more powerful than the IBM Hollerith data processing machines furnished by the IBM Corporation to facilitate the Third Reich's final solution, to identify, track and apprehend individuals, should concern citizens of every nation. One need only think of what is currently happening in Australia, with the tracking of law abiding citizens and incarcerating them in camps, for non compliance with overreaching covid lockdown restrictions, which even on the face of it, are unconstitutional in a free and democratic society. While I am not singling out Australia particularly, I am using it as an example of a previously freedom loving country turning authoritarian, based on spurious, shoddy science, the claims of which are now falling apart on a daily basis. How little it takes to lose our freedoms! This should indeed scare us all, as it seems that the world has learned nothing from the World War II experience of "confinement" camps for its citizens.

    4. Present day academics, politicians, judges, lawyers, media personalities are all on board with one narrative, while claiming "science" as their justification, all the while suppressing dissenting views and discounting evidence that does not further the agenda that they are pushing. Computer projections using unverified data, sloppy data collection methods and all of the other features that ultimately discredited eugenics for the junk science that it truly was are being used in our own time.

    5. One needs to ask oneself if the major universities, such as Harvard, Princeton, Stanford and others today who are the major proponents of "woke" and cancel culture are doing so at least in part to cover up their own complicity in the eugenics movement and its strong, though not entirely, racial component. Is there an element of deflection going on?

    In conclusion, in the words of Francis Galton's disciple Karl Pearson, as quoted on page 27: "The educated man and the scientist is as prone as any other to become the victim...of his prejudices...He will in defense thereof make shipwreck of both the facts of science and the methods of science...by perpetrating every form of fallacy, inaccuracy and distortion." We would all do well to remember these words.
  • JP67
    4.0 out of 5 stars Eugenics
    Reviewed in France on August 19, 2014
    For those interested in this still topical subject, this is an eye-opener and an uncomfortable read; a very important book.
  • appledumpling
    5.0 out of 5 stars War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America's Campaign to Create a Master Race
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 22, 2012
    This book was mentioned in the bibliography of a novel I was reading and the author had also written a short piece about eugenics. It wasn't really something I knew anything about so I bought this book to learn more. I'm about halfway through and I can't put it down. The book is well written and it isn't sensationalist. Eugenics is a difficult and emotive topic but presenting the facts as they are somehow makes them all the more shocking. Parts of it make uncomfortable reading but I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone wanting to more about eugenics.

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